Nuove ricerche e divagazioni su una lettera inedita di Jessie Laussot a Giuseppe Buonamici

The Istituto Liszt has recently acquired a letter written by Jessie Laussot to Giuseppe Buonamici, her pupil and friend. Many personalities from the Italian musical world are mentioned, who had not been studied in depth until now: Buonamici’s father, Dr. Enrico, an important chemist; Jessie’s piano pupils; the musicians Guido Papini and Giulio Roberti; Count Pio Resse and his wife Elizabeth Phelps; Arthur Matthews and his wife Augusta Leighton; Ann Christie Taylor, Jessie’s mother. The article aims to clarify the events and relationships between these people, determine the dates, and verify the compositions named in the letter. The result is a more detailed picture of Jessie and her acquaintances. Finally, the author proposes a hypothesis: one of the reasons that led Jessie to settle in Florence in 1860 was the presence of her cousin, Emily Southwood Smith, also a fervent Mazzinian.

Keywords: Jessie Laussot, Giuseppe Buonamici, Hans von Bülow, Elisabeth Phelps, Enrichetta Umicini